A Look Back: Labor Day Weekend in CARMEL VALLEY!

(David driving with the top off in our yellow Corvette!)

Labor Day weekend fell on our "change-over," which is when we move from the rehearsal space into the theater and begin working afternoons and nights instead of mornings and afternoons. We had a fabulously luxurious long weekend (all things considering, as we usually only get one day off a week)... so David and I decided to take advantage and have some R&R. Last year while we were in Toronto, we had one long weekend and we spent it amongst vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This weekend trip worked out very well because (1) David got to rent a sports car to drive around, as an "early anniversary present" and (2) I got to drink a whole lot of wine. We took this model and try to make it work for us, currently based in Chicago... and came up with a long weekend out in Central California, in Carmel Valley. I found a lovely place to stay -- Bernardus Lodge & Winery -- a beautiful boutique hotel nestled in a vineyard. Our plan was to fly into San Francisco, rent a car, then drive down the scenic coastal drive to Carmel Valley for our weekend of sun and wine.

The weekend was FABULOUS.

David absolutely LOVED driving his Corvette, and, although I have no knowledge of cars, I could appreciate this one. I thoroughly enjoyed the Mustang convertible in which we drove to Niagara-on-the-Lake last year, but, boy, this Corvette RUNS like a true sports car -- as in what I might imagine would be like to sit in a race car. And we hit some small but delicious wineries, and had a great time. We even returned to Chicago with a carefully selected case!

Here, a pictorial record of our weekend:

(Me in our room -- the bed was the MOST COMFORTABLE BED EVER! I wanted to steal it. The whole thing. Seriously.)

(Two words: WINE GROTTO. Every room at Bernardus Lodge has a "wine grotto" -- they give you a selection of their wines for FREE, along with a free mini-bar of snacks, including organic cookies! Just to David and my tastes.)

(David and I dine on lovely New American Californian cuisine at Marinus, the restaurant at the hotel in which we stayed.)

(Outdoor breakfast... and David is very happy with his meal.)

(David with the car... the car has a very sexy back-side.)

(Beautiful coastal scenery, on the way to the Big Sur from Carmel Valley...)



(These are historic bridges like this all around the coast around Carmel Valley and towards the Big Sur...)

(Another shot of the car... why not, it's hot!)

("Workin' It.")

(David picks up huge kelp on the shores of Big Sur...)


(The water is way too cold for David to swim in... I didn't dare enter either. It's cold!)

(Redwood forest...)


("Workin' It"... part deux)

(David with the car, with the Carmel Valley mountain backdrop...)

(Sea Lions sunning on rocks at a national park...)



(Gorgeous deer feeding... at the national park)

What We're Up To, What We've Been Doing...

Just a few things yet to be thoroughly updated on this blog.... here goes:

David's Green Card Re-application: As we approach our third anniversary, we must petition to have the "conditional" status of David's permanent residency removed. Yet another process in the many hurdles of our international marriage. Lots of paperwork involved, trying to prove that we are a LEGITIMATE couple. Very strange and upsetting in many ways, that a marriage simply can't BE. It's a stressful and elaborate process, especially difficult to go through while putting on a show, but we are plodding along......... crossing fingers!

My new role -- International Casting/Creative Associate: A little over a month ago, my new title within Dirty Dancing Worldwide was announced to the international team. This title had been in discussion for some time now, and I have yet to finalize "the deal," but, for all intents and purposes, I was officially given this title and my work began with a BANG. The bang being (1) completing the Toronto casting (done!), (2) finishing up the London casting process (big task, but somehow I finished it), (3) beginning the Berlin casting, and (4) continuing to deal with on-going... changes... within the US Tour company. It's been a challenging role, but a role I had been doing in many ways unofficially already -- so it is nice to have the acknowledgment and title to go along with it. I go back to Germany for almost a week in October to move along the preliminary stages of the Berlin production casting, which should be interesting, if perhaps daunting, as it will be my first venture out ON MY OWN to begin the casting process with solely the local team.

CHICAGO: The Windy City continues to treat us well and charm us with all its energy, activities and fabulous restaurants. It's very easy-going living in Chicago, and David and I are enjoying the city and our life here. Our apartment is spacious and comfortable, and since many members of the company are also staying in the same building, there is a nice community/dormitory-feel to the whole stay. We have gone to a variety of fantastic restaurants..... and we promise to be more detailed soon (photos included). While we miss New York, Chicago has been a very easy city in which to live.

REHEARSALS: Today was our last day in the rehearsal space. We have a long weekend this weekend, and when we come back together on Wednesday, we will be at the theater to kick off the tech. The show is looking terrific, we have a fantastic company, and it will be good to finally get on stage and put the show together in the environment.

MINI-BREAK!: David and I fly out to California early tomorrow morning. We have booked ourselves a little weekend getaway to Carmel Valley, which is a couple of hours' drive south of San Francisco. We will be staying at Bernardus Lodge, which is a spa/lodge in a vineyard. We will be hiring a car in San Francisco, then driving down the scenic drive along the coast, through Monterey, and onto Carmel Valley. David is looking forward to driving (a convertible, of course), and I am looking forward to the wine and relaxation!

And so we are hastily packing now... and we shall post photos of our weekend trip when we return!

Final Week in Rehearsal Studio

Last week in the rehearsal studio -- the show is coming together, and from here onwards we will be busily fine-tuning as we begin tech next week, adding all the other complicated elements to the show.

A lot going on at the moment, which makes life hectic, packed, demanding and at times stressful. We did have a great weekend, though, as we had a house guest in the form of Gerald, who came to visit us. There was a cast party on Saturday night, which worked out perfectly for our weekend activity with a friend in town... and then David and I had a gorgeous dinner at Alinea, about which I shall blog when I have a bit more time.

This weekend is Labor Day Weekend, so we FINALLY get more than a day off for the week -- we finish rehearsals on Saturday and then have time off until next Wednesday, when we begin tech (since the holiday weekend coincides with our change-over from rehearsal studio to the theater). David and I are going for a little R&R out in Carmel Valley -- looking very much forward to it.

Must be off to bed now -- but this weekend when we have some chill time I hope to blog more and post some photos of our adventures in the Windy City. Stay tuned!

Update on Things...

Life in rehearsals in Chicago has been a non-stop whirlwind. Busy busy busy, with no time outside of rehearsals other than eating dinner and trying not to drink too much wine (which is basically what I'd like to do after a long day of rehearsals).

We're enjoying living in Chicago. It's a beautiful, friendly city with fantastic restaurants. And rehearsals are going very well. But time seems to fly by, with not enough down time or sleep time. And definitely not enough time to blog thoroughly.

For the time being, I shall post a photo from an architectural cruise we took with the creative team and our actors playing "Baby" (Amanda Leigh Cobb) and "Billy" (Ben Mingay):

Back in Chicago Together

I returned to Chicago nearly a week ago, in time for full company rehearsals... the first week of which is about to conclude as of tomorrow.  All going very well so far -- the company is nice and very professional, and there is great work being done.  It's great to be back in one place, together again, and starting to settle into life in Chicago...hurrah!

More soon, but for the time being, we are happy to report that we are reunited in Chicago and couldn't be happier about it -- we'll just never quite get used to being apart, and that's probably a very good thing.

Me, London; David, Chicago

I "moved" with my things to Chicago Friday night and joined David in the Windy City. As I unpacked in our Chicago apartment (very nice and spacious), I had to simultaneously re-pack as I flew out to London Sunday for nearly a week. I arrived in London this morning.

My time in Chicago was brief, but it was good to see David before my week in London and Hamburg. I got to see the Baby's, Johnny's and Penny's (the leads and their respective understudies). Everyone seemed to be in good, positive spirits. It was surreal to be in a room full of Baby dopplegangers, Johnny dopplegangers, and Penny dopplegangers. It's like being in a room full of genetically enhanced attractive people.

Their dancing already looks great. As usual, David is doing a terrific job! :)

Chicago seems like a fun city to live for a few months. I suppose it's a nice city in the summer. It was hot -- and I hear the Chicago summers are hot -- but it was less oppressive hot than New York has been, so it felt fresh to me.

But now I am back in London! Just hanging out in the hotel today, laying low. Walked around Covent Garden and tried to get a massage, but everywhere was booked. I walked over to the Sanctuary, which is a "ladies only day spa"... the idea being that women spent half the day there relaxing and being pampered. I didn't want to spend half the day there, only get a massage, but was willing to pay for the entrance fee if that was what I needed to do as I was desperate for a massage. But I encountered a fat, repulsive and rude lady at the desk, who insisted on calling me "Darling" as she emphatically and dramatically told me it was impossible for me to get a massage. She repeatedly emphasized the impossibility in a near panic-stricken and overly loud tone, as if my inquiring about a massage availability was an outrageously inappropriate question. A simple, "I'm sorry, we're fully booked" would have sufficed, it seemed to me, but she was nastily melodramatic and offensively unattractive. It was too much for me to handle having just flown in from Chicago without much sleep, with an aching back. I grumbled, "I understand that you don't have any openings but you don't have to be rude about it" and walked out. There's nothing "Sanctuary"-like about a place that is overseen by a hideous, rude, stressed-out and grotesque lady.

Luckily, I found a nicer, more elegant and certainly more peaceful spa at the One Aldwych hotel, where I booked a massage for Wednesday night.

Casting continues tomorrow, and on Friday I will fly to Hamburg. I hope the week will go by quickly... although I suppose I will also need to hope there will be enough time to complete what we need to complete.

And so it goes... I will miss David this week, but he will have a busy week in Chicago -- ensemble dance week -- so I shall take the positive outlook that we are both working very hard and making contributions to make our show better.

Where We Are...

David is now in Chicago, working through the first dance week of Baby/Johnny/Penny. He rang me from a bus en route to rehearsals on the first morning, and it was very funny to imagine him in Chicago on a bus-full of Baby/Johnny/Penny's... a very peculiar circus of attractive performers!

I am still in NYC, although I will leave for Chicago Thursday. Then it looks like I will fly to London on Sunday for 5-ish days, then onto Hamburg, Germany, for a day, and then back to Chicago.

This means I need to get my NYC life together by Thursday to relocate!

I don't know if I will ever get used to the packing/traveling/moving house.......

Snapshots of San Juan & Bonaire

Here are few photographic snapshots of our Caribbean holiday 2008....

In Old San Juan, Puerto Rico:

David with sea food paella at the restaurant in our hotel, the El Convento. It was very delicious, if filling...

Great sangria at a restaurant recommended by the hotel -- the place serves Puerto Rican food and boasts that the Pina Colada was invented there.

David makes a funny face while sipping his Pina Colada...


Near the rain forest park....
On top of a tower overlooking the rain forest...

Flora in the rain forest...


And fauna in the rain forest... these snails were seen all over the rain forest trees...



David takes a dip in the waterfall at the rain forest park...


Getting coconuts hacked up for drinking the juice...

A lunch of coconut water and arroz con pollo (chicken and rice)

In Old San Juan...

We visited the Bacardi factory in San Juan... in the end we feel we prefer Barbadian rum...

In BONAIRE!
A pelican grooms itself...

Iguana, up close and personal...

Bonaire flora...

David approaches iguanas who hang out in the beach restaurant where hotel breakfast is served...


"Downtown" Bonaire...

Meeting a wild donkey...

Flamingo at one of the many flamingo sanctuaries...



Very colorful and fearless lizard (the lizards had a habit of approaching people and their cars, so that breaking for lizards became a common observance...)

Fajitas on the beach...

At a Spanish tapas restaurant by the harbour...


On "Pink Beach"... which the guide book claimed would turn "pink" at sunset... it was more a "dusty rose" if any pink at all, but it was pretty and peaceful.

We had a marvelous holiday... and feel Bonaire is a place we'd love to go back!

Aaaand, we're BACK... for a wee bit

David and I are back in New York City after a FANTASTIC holiday in the Caribbean.

Now we're running around in our usual kind-of-manic style, trying to get ourselves organized for our next installation DD... this time in Chicago! David heads out to Chicago this Sunday. I will join him (looks like, but yet to be confirmed) on Thursday, but only for a couple of days, as I will head out to London for a few days, do a day in Germany, and then back to London for a couple of days........then back to Chicago. It's a whirlwind, as ever. But at least this time we will be working in the US and kind of close(r) to home? It's kind of exciting, living in a different US city for a change...

More to come soon....

In Bonaire

David and I have been in Bonaire since Tuesday night... and we are loving our time here so far!

We enjoyed Puerto Rico, too. We had a great trip to the rain forest, an interesting experience at the beach (the beach was really dirty with garbage from the weekend partying... but the water itself was okay), good sea food and Puerto Rican food, and the most special of all -- an evening kayaking in a "bioluminescent" bay (the water glows in the dark!). We enjoyed where we were in Old San Juan, even managed to salsa dance a bit and visit the Bacardi rum factory. But coming to the quiet island of Bonaire, we realize that this is really what we were after... peace and quiet, drives around the island (in a pick-up truck, no less!), lots of snorkeling, all accompanied by plenty of rum-based drinks on the beach!

We'll post photos when we can... I hope to have some good flora/fauna pics from this trip!

And FINALLY... a holiday!!!

Life has been hectic and packed in the last couple of weeks. But amidst all the work-related happenings, David and I have also managed to accomplish some fun and memorable life-related things, such as: see "In the Heights" (brilliant!); go to Brooklyn to see a Polish production of "Macbeth"... which sadly got canceled due to rain (boo); throw me a birthday party (a successful one at that -- there were many mojitos and margaritas and LOADS of dancing and twirling... photos to come); and, most recently, we went to Brooklyn for a 4th of July celebration.

And FINALLY, tomorrow very early in the morning, we're off to Puerto Rico! And then two days after that, we'll be in Bonaire for almost a week! We've gotten out our snorkels and flippers from the storage, along with David's sun-proof gear (see last year's blog entry about our holiday for the photos). We bought sun screen, aloe and after sun moisturizer, as well as various Caribbean-appropriate frock. Now, all we have to do is pack!

Hooray!

crazy times in casting

We spent 4 days in Toronto last week for recasts in the Canadian DD company; now we're back in NYC trying to wrap up the US Tour casting while we continue to tie up Toronto. London is being recast, too, so there are recasts all around... a very hectic time for us, so we haven't been able to blog... but more to come, soon!

In the mean time, wish us luck finding some serious DD talents...

Farewell to London (for now)... and back to New York City

David and I managed to squeeze in some good social outings (a.k.a. partying) with our London friends before we left the city... one of the more solid night outs of which was Friday, the night before we returned to New York. We had drinks with Valerie, Katie, and Magnus at Bam Bou, joined briefly by David's old dance friend Ryan. I have known Valerie and Katie for 9 years now, and drinks with the two of them on a good night means seemingly endless rounds of cocktails. The rounds go round and round in a deceptively swift fashion, because we have engaging conversation and comic storytellings -- and Friday was no exception. I had a handicap of having had only about 4 hours of sleep that day and generally exhausted from the final week of casting... compounded by yet another handicap of my being stupid enough to think that a vodka martini straight up was the way to go. I felt fine through the cocktails, fine through the wine shared at dinner. Then there was a sly and possibly lethal shot of alcohol David made me and Valerie try after dinner at a near by lounge club, a concoction of tequila, rum and sambuca (Katie and Magnus had smartly gone home by then). And yet I felt well enough to suggest that we go to our apartment for more wine, seeing that London bars close early (which should have been a sign).

We had a good hanging out with Valerie at our place... and then I expired. Like a wind-up toy -- I was finished, and thus turned off and fell asleep on the couch amidst the hanging out. David put me to bed, and Val and David continue to chat, until they decided that they would like to commemorate the evening by taking photos:

The two as***les took this photo with me passed out! Even managed to put the camera on timer so that they could be fully in the shot. (I can't quite understand how perky the two of them can be, having drank all night. Obviously, I am just too delicate to keep up.)

And then the two got artsy, took out my velcro rollers and put it on and around me and on themselves and took this:

I never woke up and didn't know this had taken place until David showed me the photos. (They'd taken 6 of these "Tomoko passed out with velcro rollers and Val and David hovering" pics.)


Very funny, you two.

(These photos *are* really funny, actually. Lucky for them I have a very good sense of humor.)

We had a great night, and will miss Val and the rest of our London friends. Hopefully, we will be back again soon enough.

For those of you wondering, we ended up flying Delta, NOT Silverjet, and the flight was far better and provided plenty of edible food.

Now, we're back in New York, where it is muggy. The weather has been an odd mix, on and off between torrential rain and clear blue skies and sunshine. It's good to be home. We got up early today (jet-lag), went to Whole Foods to buy food, hit the gym, and had a late lunch at Casa Mono, walked around downtown and then came home to unpack. We'll have an early night tonight, as we go back to casting the US Tour tomorrow, bright and early.

And now for our last week in London

(View of London skyline -- including the London Eye -- from the exclusive roofdeck of our friends Laurie and John's apartment...)

David and I have had a wonderful time in London: a good mix of work, "normal" life (consisting of gym, local eats and chill time the two-some way), seeing friends, and enjoying the foggy city. Living in Bloomsbury has worked out fabulously well for us, as it's proved the first time in London that we've felt well-integrated. Much better than "living" in Covent Garden. On the life/gym-front, David has been trying to bulk-up muscle-wise and I have aspired to become more "fit" -- a regime/aspiration we began in New York and have been able to continue and maintain while in London. Of course, there are probably more wine consumed here -- a function of having better access to gorgeous wines and needing it after a long day of casting -- but on the whole we have spent the last 3 weeks in London without having to throw away entirely our more healthful routines we've established and stuck to in New York, which too often happens when we are displaced and live temporarily in a foreign city.

A few snapshots of our last week in London show us...

...at John and Laurie's apartment for a BBQ feast, as well as a treat to the London skyline...

(David and John discuss life and other manly things overlooking the London Eye...)

(Real men BBQ with a cosmopolitan in hand...)

(Happily intoxicated on John and Laurie's roofdeck...)

...at Mon Plaisir, digging into a delicious pear tart before going to watch Sex and the City Movie....

... at Busba Eathai, MANY times over... our favorite Thai restaurant in London, we are truly addicted...

... at Roka, where infused shochu and excellent food reign supreme...

... and the dessert at Roka was one of the best desserts we've ever eaten...


(David in dessert-time heaven at Roka...)

... and we've had a wild night out with Valerie, which started out civilized enough at a dinner at Yauacha...


... but which lead to an interesting outing to a random R&B club... and lots of silly dancing and Valerie, as always, being very popular with the boys...

... to back to Mon Plaisir, where we had a gorgeous rib-eye for two...
We have one more week in London left, and some more hefty bit of casting to do, but we are optimistic and look forward to having a good time... even if it means we have to fly back to New York on Silverjet.

Hopefully it won't jinx us... but we saw this sticker on a sandwich from Pret and thought it was quite appropriate...

Silverjet AGAIN?!

I blogged too soon... apparently Silverjet has been bought, and may still be running when we return to New York on Saturday.

BOOOOOO.

Silverjet No Longer

Silverjet, which we flew to London, has gone BANKRUPT!

We really hated the airline and pleaded with the office so that we'd never have to fly it again, but we had not anticipated that it would go out of business within our 4-week stay in London. We'd dreaded having to fly back to New York on it, but now it looks like we won't have to worry!